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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

"Roam ... "

"roam if you want to roam around the worldroam if you want towithout wings, without wheelsroam if you want toroam around the worldroam if you want towithout anything but the love we feel"

~ The B-52s ~ Roam ~

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Recently, I came across a great article about "the cost of Roaming" ~ The compulsive checking of messages, staying connected because we are afraid of missing out, or answering a late-night work email because it makes us feel needed. This can be powerful distractions from knowing ourselves. I realized that prior to my diagnosis, that was me. I worked hard, very hard and took pride in telling others " I am sooo busy, I work 60 hour weeks, etc...". I always seemed connected to some form of technology. And all of my gadgets and tech toys tempted me with endless stimuli that invited my attention to go off in a million scattered directions at once. If you need to get a hold of me, no worries, just try my hand held device, or my laptop, or my pager or my .... and it goes on.

We can avoid the roaming charge or "the emotional or psychic cost connected with the distraction and expectation associated with that phone, wherever and whenever it might be ringing - by remaining as attuned to your inner technologies as you are to your outer ones". It can be a challenge to maintain inner calm in a world of constant connection, yet I have had the opportunity to practice perfect this during my therapy and it has been essential for my well-being. Wisdom practices such as yoga and meditation, have allowed me to set matters aside, cut myself loose from my ego, and experience freedom from external affirmations and influences ... like breaking free from rapid-fire tweet and measuring my popularity from facebook likes ~ yes, we don't need our smartphones to discover nirvana, what a relief!

It definitely takes discipline ... we all have the urge to just check that email or message ... but introspective wisdom practices will result in higher productivity, greater inspiration, and increased creativity. It allows us to maintain presence and inner connection in a world designed to pull us in every waking moment outside of ourselves. We can live with the latest technology and still have a connected inner life. Perhaps next time let your voicemail take that call, let your email go unanswered and evaluate your relationship with technology instead of blaming it when you feel distracted. Feel the shift as it may be the next new wave of inner technology you may just be looking for.